Awards: AnimeUSA 2008 Best in Show - Hall Costume Contest with Yesod cosplaying as Thanatos

If I was ever up for a challenge this outfit definitely comes to mind. I had started playing Shin Megami Tensei 3, or better known as Persona 3 in the US. I loved the character designs and had flipped through the artbook that came with the game and when I saw Juno, I kept thinking, "how would someone do that?" And well, I eventually went about finding out how.

Obviously, the biggest obstacle on this cosplay was the ball portion of Juno's lower body. For this, I ended up purchasing two acrylic skylight domes. First, I measured out areas for my body and for my feet and and then cut those sections out with a rotary Dremel tool. Then I took a blow torch and kitchen hot mitts and slowly heated up the flanges on the skylights and turned them inward. This probably was the most difficult task. Get the acrylic plastic too hot and it bubbled, too cold and it wasn't flexible enough to bend inward without cracking. Took a lot of time and a good amount of butane before this task was completed. (I recommend using great care if you need to go as far as this. Fire + oven mitts are not the safest combination of tools, but it was what I had.)

Once the flanges were turned inward, I marked the spots where screws would hold the two halves together. Holes were drilled at the marks, and now I would be able to have a solid ball held together by screws and bolts so I could take the ball apart. The screws/bolts were also used with rubber washers as to add some cushioning so that the contact with the plastic would be lessened to keep the skylight flanges from cracking.

Next thing to do was sketch out the stained glass design for the front of the ball. I ended up getting a yard by yard piece of craft foam (aka Foamies) to cut the design into so it was a single piece with no seams. Then that was glued on the skylight, coated in school glue to smooth out the texture, and painted gold. The inside of the skylights were then painted with a coating of an opalescent paint for shine then various layers of acrylic paint to color in the sections of the design.

A belt system was created to hold the ball around my waist. It was rigged with a hula-hoop, washers, bolts, screws, and belt webbing to equally support the weight of the skylight ball and each belt of those belts attached to another belt that went around my waist. It allows the ball to float around my waist.

I created a partial zentai suit (just the upper half) of black spandex from a pattern I drafted. The corset-like top was based on Simplicity Pattern 4070. It was modified to have hanging sections that extend into the ball. Ruffles were added to the top edge. The ruffles were created with a ruffling foot. Gloves were created from Vogue Pattern 7949. The top, gloves, and ruffles were made from Casa satin. Making the gloves was difficult because most gloves are meant to be created from a stretch material. I created the gloves on a bias to add a little flexibility but it took a lot of tweaking to fit them correctly. The headband was made with the same fabric and each side ended in a teardrop shaped bead made from Model Magic.

The wig started out from a white "Punky" wig and was dyed using gray and black FW Artists Ink and rubbing alcohol mix. I kept spraying and combing the mixture through until I achieved the gray I wanted. It was also curled with large rollers and a hair dryer to give the hair a wave.

The mask was made from WonderFlex that I molded around the shape of my face. Red plastic spoon tips were used for the eyeballs and glued onto the Wonderflex. Then the mask was covered in a cotton/spandex fabric. Slits were cut above the spoons and with the tension of the fabric pulled back from the "eyes". There were also eye holes cut into the wonderflex but really aren't visible under the fabric so I did have some visibility. The mask then attached to the zentai suit face section with velcro.

The wings were created from insulation foam that were carved with heated foam carving tools from Hot Wire Foam Factory. Specifically these tools that were used: Sculpting Tool and 4" Hot Knife. Each ring was measured, carved, and then each edge sanded with a fine sandpaper to smooth out any jagged cuts. The foam cutouts were them assembled into the wing design with foam glue. Hooks were screwed into dowels that were anchored into the wings using large washers and then the wings were painted with primer (I prefer the brand Killz) and then acrylic paint. (Be sure to test glues and paints on your foam before trying it on your actual project. Some glues and paints melt different types of foam!) The hooks then attach to a harness that went under my outfit. The wings are also made to separate into two halfs so that they are easier to transport.

<3 Thanks to all the friends who helped me get around in this costume and the people that let us on and off elevators and made way for us. I hope to wear this outfit again at a convention that has room for us to move around considering I have a wingspan of 6 feet. And the fact that I have to see if I can rebuild the ball since my mother fell on it and it broke. We'll see what kind of fix I can make with some epoxy.

Photo Credits: ACParadise, Mikau, LJinto

Featured Cosplayers: Yesod as Thanatos, Stardustshadow as Jin Shirato, LousyItachi as Shinjiro Aragaki, Tsuki-Ookami as Yukari, and Reinaurre as Akihiko.